Push Up - An Overview

      All of us would have heard the term 'Push Up' at least one time in our fitness journey.  Many of you must be knowing what it is and some may not know.  For them, Push Up is nothing but a compound workout that anyone can perform anywhere without any equipment but only using their body weight.  Push-up is the primary compound workout performed by beginners, intermediates, and advanced.  Push-up can be performed as a warm-up or even could be added to your training session depending upon your level of training.

     A beginner can also perform push up with a good form.  If he is not able to do even one push up that means he has less power and hand strength to control his body weight.  A beginner can make progress in pull-ups and dips only when he can do thirty consecutive push-ups with perfect form.  But, it does not mean that he must not practice pull-ups and dips while progressing in push-ups, push-ups to help and support to perform pull-ups and dips.  A study has proven that the people who can do 40 consecutive push-ups were found to have a 96% reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease events compared with those who can't.

How a beginner can make progress in Push-Ups?

     If a beginner can't even do one proper push-up he must start practicing wall push-ups which are nothing but stand facing against the wall at a certain degree leaning against it with your hands with shoulder width.  Now push your body from the wall in a full range of motion.  The next progress should be done with incline push-ups.  Incline push-ups mean positioning yourself with your feet on the ground and your hands on a higher surface which could make an angle of 50 - 60 degrees.  This is how a beginner can progress to perform knee push-ups.

     The third progress is knee push-ups that are kneeling on the ground and taking the position and must push your body away from the ground with your knees held firm.  Practicing these beginner's push-up variations help you to perform your first push-up with perfect form.

How do Push-Ups help you to achieve a good physique?

     Since push-up is the primary compound exercise it activates more than one muscle i.e., performing push-ups activate your chest, shoulder, triceps, biceps, forearms, traps, and core.  Performing push-ups regularly can yield you a good physique.  In fact, push-ups and pull-ups engage core activation which builds stability and helps you to attain a good posture.  If a beginner does his maximum number of push-ups he would experience extreme muscle soreness than an intermediate.  Performing 100 push-ups burn 40 calories this shows that push up is the major exercise in muscle building and fat loss.  So, if you want to burn 1000 calories only by doing push-ups you must perform 2500 push-ups.

     Finally, the push-up is a great exercise to burn fat and build muscle and attain a really good physique.  Push-ups can be performed to isolate any one particular muscle by adjusting the hand position as close or wide as the body.  Push-ups can target the chest, shoulder, and triceps majorly.  There are many types of push-ups which we shall discuss soon.